how much solids should my big 8month old be having

[mrspicklepants]

I've only done half hearted attempts at puree feeding every now and then. He is ebf or was if u see what I mean;-) and now I just give him bits of our food to play with and feed himself but mainly he gets his nutrition from me. Is this stil ok? Food is for fun until you are 1 is about all I can remember on the matter and my dd is nearly 7 so its been a while! He continues to grow well

My DD has just turned 8 months and is also BF. Since she was 6 months I have been gradually increasing her solid intake to 'proper' meals twice a day.

So I give her porridge for breakfast every day (with a bit of mashed up banana or puréed fruit for variety) and then she always has an evening meal (cous cous, veg, shredded chicken etc). During the day I offer her fruit, yoghurt, toast, and basically anything else I am eating and most of the time she is keen to have some.

Portion wise the meals are the size of her fist. And if she's not interested then I don't persist.

I also believe in Food for fun until one. The on,y reason I have increased her solid intake is because she in interested and never/rarely turns away when I offer her anything.

She still BF 5 times a day.

Sounds about right to me. According to the NHS website you should gradually build upto 3 meals a day between 8 and 9 months but at this age its just offering food, don't worry if none or very little goes in. You are right, until he is one the main source of his nutrition should be your milk

I'd just keep offering a little of what you are eating, relax and let him have a bit of fun

Agree with above about not worrying too much and just to keep offering.

Fwiw, DS is 8.5mo. He is a long boy, above average for weight, crawling and just starting to cruise, so he's quite big as well as being quite active. We do something very similar to PicnicPie:

When he wakes he has a large portion of porridge with fruit puree - so not BLW - he loves it and eats it all up quite quickly. We started with a small portion and slowly increased to see if he wanted more and he just kept going until he got to where he is now.
Throughout the rest of the day he has 3 bottles (approx. 21oz/day) and feeds himself cooked meat, toast, vegetables, fruit, cheese, bits of what we have.
Later in the day I will give him some more 'spoon food' as another main meal - yoghurt and something like cous cous or mash with meat or cheese and veg. He has significantly less here than the porridge but always finishes the yoghurt.

All that really matters is that your child is thriving and getting to know food. You have plenty of time for him to be eating bigger meals.